Are You Satisfied With Dating in Richmond? 44 Percent of You Are
Back on Valentine’s Day, Sara and I got emailed about an interesting new “study” by Apartment List that listed (honestly couldn’t find a different verb for what Apartment List may do) the best and worst metros for dating in America, i.e. which cities are optimal for getting drinks with people that you want to liplock with.
Because I have been the worst at blogging lately (because, hello, I am living; that is not rationalization, therapist), I didn’t even read the article until two weeks after Valentine’s. However, what I found stuck with me.
First, by study, this is no New England Journal of Medicine analysis. These results stem from a survey sent to 20,000 people who conceivably rent an apartment by themselves (“single renters”). The study covers 86 cities (which makes me ask what the sample size is in each city, but I wasn’t asked to peer review the study*).
*It was at least 25 respondents per metro area.
Provo, UT is listed as the number one city best for dating. That takeaway comes from having the highest dating satisfaction… at merely 47.5 percent. Yes. Less than half of participants were satisfied with dating in Provo, UT, yet it tops the list. Amazing! Things can only go, wait, downhill from here.
What’s in Provo? Surprisingly, over a hundred thousand people. Also, Brigham Young University. I imagine the Latter-Day Saints are smacking lips – or really want. I’ll stop my jokes there.
Second place for best city to date is – aha, drumroll – our very own, Miss Richmond, VA! A whopping 44.2 percent of single renters are satisfied with dating in Richmond. Having hailed from Richmond for six years and dated heavily while there, please tell me what apps you’re using. What apartment are you in? I guess I was 44.2 percent satisfied too at times. Sometimes 60 percent!
I would argue Richmond must have more going for it than Provo. But I am similarly perplexed that it is so “high.” (Calling 44.2 percent high feels disingenuous, but given the data…whelp.) Richmond ranked even above Denver (#7 with 36.59 percent satisfaction!) and even Grand Rapids, MI (I don’t know why I expected Grands Rapids to be higher; maybe just grand?).
Of course, no scientific survey like this one is complete without listing the bottom ten cities for dating. The article even leads that the bottom ten contains three Florida metropolitan areas – as if this is a surprise and they haven’t heard about Florida Man. I imagine Florida Man is a single renter himself. I wonder how he rates his dating satisfaction in the Panhandle.
The three bottom cities are North Port, Deltona, and Lakeland with dating satisfaction ranging from 5.41 to 8.57 percent. Honestly, that’s almost one in 20 good dates. That’s not so bad. I guess Richmond did have a better dating satisfaction rate. I felt like I was two for three most days of the week.
The study became much more intriguing when they presented the results by gender. Apparently, men reported greater dating satisfaction than women. Blink. Is that a real surprise?
Men found San Diego, CA to be the most satisfying for dating. Women found…Columbus, OH. Hmm. Denver was second for men and four for women (I guess you can’t get too high; yes, that’s a drug joke).
Incidentally for me, a new resident of the Washington, DC area, DC is number 7 for both men and women. Gender equality is real here.
When our fearless scientists split the results by college educations, we found Richmond in the running again. College-educated renters ranked Richmond #2 with 45.45 percent dating satisfaction…and non-college-educated rated Richmond #1 with 40.74 percent satisfaction.
What do readers think? Is this true? Is Richmond that “good” for dating? Are 40 percent of you satisfied, maybe more? Or was Mick Jagger right: “I can’t get no satisfaction ‘cause I try and I try…”
If you liked this, then you may also like: